Two-time PGA Tour winner Mackenzie Hughes believes men's professional golf has "lost the spirit of the game" as money continues to play a larger and larger role in the direction of the sport.
The Canadian - who last won on the PGA Tour in October 2022 at the Sanderson Farms Championship - suggested a lot of his peers seem to be giving increasing thought to how they can earn the biggest pay check rather than pitting themselves against the best in the world most often.
As a result, a widely-considered theory - and one that Hughes goes along with - is that fans' interest in men's pro golf is waning due to the top talent opting to split itself between the PGA Tour and the LIV Golf League.
Whether that continues in the years to come remains to be seen, but a recent $3 billion investment deal by Strategic Sports Group in the PGA Tour - which left room for a deal to be done with the Saudi Arabian PIF, backers of the LIV Golf League - appears to have generated some positivity among those who are hoping for some kind of amalgamation.
Hughes was speaking to NBC Sports' Jim Nantz about the current state of the sport at this week's Genesis Invitational - one of the PGA Tour's Signature Events which operate with smaller fields and larger prize purses in response to LIV Golf's eye-watering financial offerings.
In a candid and sincere on-course interview, the Canadian expressed why he aspired to play on the US-based circuit in the first place and how he feels the fans are the ones being affected the most by golf's current state.
Mackenzie Hughes shares his take on the current state of professional golf. pic.twitter.com/lJZqEdeSgdFebruary 17, 2024
Hughes said: "I just think it's kinda unfortunate where we are in the game right now, it seems that it's just all about the money, it's all about how much money can I make? And we've kind of lost the spirit of the game in the process.
"It's just never the reason I [wanted to] play the PGA Tour. It wasn't because I wanted to make millions of dollars. I wanted to compete against the best players in the world and make an impact in the communities that we play in - that's been the dream since I was a kid.
"It seems like some guys have lost a little bit of the sight of that, and now we're in a place where fans are just generally a little bit kind of fed up with it, to be honest. Those are the people that drive our sport, so I'd love to appeal to the masses a lot more. Certainly the way we're going right now, to me, isn't quite it."
Hughes, who begins the final round seven shots back on seven under, will continue to battle Genesis Invitational leader Patrick Cantlay for the $4 million top prize this week at Riviera Country Club.
